Legend of the Chaleur Phantom

The legend of the blazing ship on the Bay of Chaleur is one of the most famous reported in the Maritimes. Over the years there have been countless sightings of a three-masted, fully-rigged schooner ablaze a few miles off the shoreline. Many different legends have been passed on and embellished from generation to generation. The legend that is most often retold is that of a Spanish ship which captured some of the natives and took them to their country never to be seen again. On the return voyage of this Spanish ship, the natives took revenge and burned the ship. All aboard perished and many attest that it is the ghost of the burning ship that can be seen from the shores of the Bay of Chaleur.Other accounts tell of a pirate ship that had been chased up the Bay by a man-of–war and after taking fire all aboard perished.Many dismiss these theories as either an illusion, a flammable gas from an underwater seam, or simply a reflection or mirage in the Bay. Regardless of whether the legend is a phenomenon or a natural occurrence, it remains the most interesting legend on the Bay of Chaleur. The phantom ship has been seen for hundreds of years and as legend would have it, will continue to sail for hundreds more.